How we got our dream holiday house for less than $1m
Oct 4, 2023
Campbell Kwan Commercial — Property Reporter
“Genyou was different and easy to talk to.”
Colin Prasad with his wife Rita Horvath and daughter Sofia Prasad in their home on Phillip Island. Arsineh Houspian
Each fortnight, The Australian Financial Review chats to a recent home buyer about where they bought and why – as well as the practical details, such as how much the property cost, if they got what they wanted and just how hard (or easy) the process was – to give readers a taste of what the market is like [https://www.afr.com/wealth/personal-finance/how-to-buy-and-sell-for-the-best-price-in-spring-season-20230808-p5duu6].
Meet Colin Prasad and Rita Horvath, who built a holiday house in Phillip Island, which is two hours from Melbourne.
Please tell us a little about yourselves.
Both my wife Rita, 48, and I, 53, are finance professionals in the mid to late stages of our careers. We currently live in a house in the inner Melbourne suburb of Richmond that we built ourselves. But we’d like to spend more time closer to the beach as we think about semi-retirement in the next decade or so.
What did you initially want?
We’d been thinking about a holiday house for a while and had considered the Mornington Peninsula and Bellarine Peninsula, especially after the first wave of lockdowns in Melbourne.
Then in November 2020, we rented a place in Cowes – the main township in Phillip Island – where we loved the vibe. It wasn’t as maniacally busy as the Mornington Peninsula but also not an extended suburb of Melbourne, which gave us the idea of getting a place there.
What did you end up buying (and building)?
We shortly after found a block for sale in Cowes. Sensing that COVID had changed many things, I said to Rita that I didn’t think we’d ever get the opportunity to buy a block of land for $300,000 less than 800 metres from the beach again. Rita happily agreed and we made an offer. It took a few days, but by early 2021 the block was ours.
It then cost another $650,000 to build a four-bedroom house, where the upstairs area can be temporarily closed to be an apartment. Those build costs also included landscaping, solar panels and fencing.
In total, it cost just shy about $1 million to buy the land and build our dream beach house.
Colin and Rita paid $300,000 for a block of land 800 metres from Cowes Beach.
How did you choose a builder?
Finding a builder was tough. The local builders on the island were all fully booked and volume builders don’t do custom builds. We didn’t go for a volume builder, even though their costs would have been around 30 per cent cheaper, as they didn’t have options that met our flexible needs.
My shortlist came down to two: Langford Jones and Genyou Builders, who were similarly priced.
Langford Jones came recommended to me from someone who had built on the island years ago. They appeared to have credibility and experience and initial discussions with one of the owners was good. But I started to get a bad feeling when I got passed on to a salesperson, who wanted to make changes to my plans to make it easier for them.
Genyou Builders was different and easy to talk to. I was speaking to the young blokes who would actually build my house. They didn’t have a lot of overheads and did not take on too much work. I also visited Genyou’s window supplier and kitchen supplier to see what they made, who told me that they were great partners and always paid on time. So, we signed with Genyou Builders, who started in early 2022.
A few months later, Langford Jones went bust. It would have been a sad story if we had chosen them as I am sure we would have lost our deposit and still have a vacant block.
They bought a block of land in Cowes, Phillip Island and built their ideal holiday home on top. Arsineh Houspian
How did the build go?
GenYou Builders quoted everything from their suppliers in advance, and our building contract had a clause to pass on to us cost increases of up to 20 per cent – I think we got a small bill for an extra $5000 for material cost increases [https://www.afr.com/property/commercial/construction-costs-have-peaked-but-it-s-not-all-good-news-20230322-p5cu9m].
I think we had less than 5 per cent variations on the total build cost and most of that was down to our choices. The whole build was done in 11 months, and they delivered exactly what I had planned.
How does it now sit in the market?
Over the last 12 months I have seen the last few blocks of land similar to ours selling for $500,000. And volume builders have increased their prices to stay in business. Whilst our build cost was probably still more than they would charge, we are much happier with the product. And our land cost was lower, so it’s probably a wash.
I think prices have come off a little now with rising interest rates. I’m not sure if we’d get all our money back if we had to sell now. But we are not selling.